Is the EMG hate justified?

[Metal Ken]

On the positive side: I found them EXTREMELY consistent. I played them before I knew that word was associated with EMGs in general and I came up with it all on my own, so yeah, I will say that no matter where you're playing, they sound the same.

I think this threads been mostly played out but i gotta respond to this:
No, they dont. I was at a band practice playing my hellraiser through a JCM2000 at one point. I broke a string and didnt bring any spares, like a jackass. SO i put down my EMG'ed Hellraiser (Mahogany body/neck), and borrowed the other guitarist's backup guitar, a RG7420 (basswood body/maple neck) with EMGs. As soon as i plugged it in, i noticed my bottom end went all flabby and became way more undefined. YMMV.

 

[Nats]

they can be noisy, but the tightness makes up for it so i love them

 

[Scar Symmetry]

I'm not saying people disliking EMGs isn't justified by certain people, but a lot of people just hop on the bandwagon.

 

[Edroz]

these threads are absolutely pointless...

 

[Chelseadevil21]

They are good for playing live if you want to tighten things up..plenty of bands do it for instance Evergrey..their guitars in the studio all have passives but for live they use EMGs..I use an 85/SA for my live guitar because most people can't tell the difference anyway when you play live

 

[Bleak]

The thread has pretty much said it all.

Personally, I don't dig 'em. I had some before, and just didn't like them. I like the feel and response of other pickups better. There are plenty of pickups I don't like, not just EMG's.

 

[Andii]

My opinion on the matter(I added this because of the way I say things ):

I've read a lot of hate on EMG's and didn't buy into it at all. It simply made me eager to try them out for myself. A band came to me to record them and one had the 81 85 set. I was in shock the second the dude started playing. He was using my gear with my settings. It was the most flat and lifeless sound I've ever heard come from my rig. The normal dynamics of playing were gone. There was no difference between the weak sound when the string was barely touched and the sound when you thrash the strings. I played them myself and it was unpleasant. I don't see any point of using EMGs with a tube amp. I don't think there is any way to justify it whatsoever. There is absolutely no positive qualities to them when used with tube gear because of how it reacts to them.

Then there's where I've heard them used with great results: Unusual mold-breaking guitar tones.

Mike Keene of The Faceless has an extremely in your face, completely fake sounding and flat(compressed) live guitar tone that sounds awesome and smooth as glass. He is using Line6 gear.

Marc's (Veil of Maya) live tone sounds great as well. When I saw him he was using a randall solid state dialed to a very unique tone. Once again very flat(compressed) sounding and once again not resembling a normal tube amp tone whatsoever, but awesome.



The EMG has it's place, it's just a very small place. Every other band I've heard use EMGs other than the two sounds I've listed could really benefit from switching in my opinion. I think their trend-like rise in popularity of yesteryear was simply because they are black, they look cool and EMG has powerful marketing.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

My opinion on the matter(I added this because of the way I say things ):

I've read a lot of hate on EMG's and didn't buy into it at all. It simply made me eager to try them out for myself. A band came to me to record them and one had the 81 85 set. I was in shock the second the dude started playing. He was using my gear with my settings. It was the most flat and lifeless sound I've ever heard come from my rig. The normal dynamics of playing were gone. There was no difference between the weak sound when the string was barely touched and the sound when you thrash the strings. I played them myself and it was unpleasant. I don't see any point of using EMGs with a tube amp. I don't think there is any way to justify it whatsoever. There is absolutely no positive qualities to them when used with tube gear because of how it reacts to them.

I assume your rig has EQ knobs.

 

[Andii]

I assume your rig has EQ knobs.

What I was hearing was not an eq issue. The problem was the response and dynamics, or rather the lack of those things.

 

[AK DRAGON]

I don't hate EMG's per say. It's more of the design of them.
The EMG 707's and 808's housings are fugly and a pain in the ass to change out to a passive pickup without making it look funny

 

[Scar Symmetry]

The EMG has it's place, it's just a very small place. Every other band I've heard use EMGs other than the two sounds I've listed could really benefit from switching in my opinion. I think their trend-like rise in popularity of yesteryear was simply because they are black, they look cool and EMG has powerful marketing.

I disagree wholeheartedly.

Small?

Two Sounds?

Oh dear...

 

[JMP2203]

I don't see any point of using EMGs with a tube amp. I don't think there is any way to justify it whatsoever. There is absolutely no positive qualities to them when used with tube gear because of how it reacts to them.

wow to me is completely the oposite, IMO EMG`s or Blackouts are made to play loud with tube amps and 4x12 cabs.

 

[InAbsentia_]

It seems like EMG users come in two categories. The absolute die hard fans and the extreme haters. It also seems like getting an unbiased opinion on these pickups is close to impossible.

 

[Jzbass25]

I like the gilmour ones and I like them sometimes on basses mainly for the vast preamp tone modeling

I don't really like any other emgs haha

 

[leonardo7]

Most real Metal dudes wont bash EMGs. Some will, but most wont. They cant. They sound good. They may lack the undertones some people are addicted too in passives but for me they sound precise. With the added articulation they provide, its worth using them for the common metal style of playing.

 

[BenInKY]

I was happy with my EMGs until I read this thread. Now I have to change to passives